


The Point From A To B

by TheLittleMuse



Category: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Han is a lot softer than he pretends to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 12:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13318041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLittleMuse/pseuds/TheLittleMuse
Summary: How does Han Solo go from being a smuggler who only cares about himself to a rebel fighter with friends he would die for?





	The Point From A To B

Han didn’t think about the future, thought only in terms of one trip to the next. He didn’t think about the day he might die (or worse) because even he isn’t perfect. Even he can get caught.

Then he’d been hired to take two men, one old, one painfully young, and two droids to Alderaan. An easy trip. Easy money.

Hah.

Sometimes he thought about what would have happened if that meeting had never happened. Actually he knew, he would’ve carried on, Chewie by his side. It’s a life he loves but a life that would’ve ended most likely in blood.

(His life will probably still end in blood, but at least that blood had meaning now. He never cared about that before and he’s scared about how much that means to him now.)

He had no interest in their plans to blow the Death Star, which was why he sat in on all their meetings, calculated the probabilities and told himself it was impossible at every opportunity. He’s _not_ staying. No matter what Chewie said.

He offered the kid a place on the Millennium Falcon before he left. He told himself it was because Luke was a good pilot and they could use another hand. He ignored the fact that Luke was so green he’d have to teach him _everything_ and he’d hate it.

He ignored the fact that was why he was offering. Luke was too damn innocent to throw his life away for a cause he didn’t understand. ( _Too soft, he was always too soft._ )

And then he came back. He had no real explanation why, except, well, _somebody_ had to look out for the kid now the old man was dead and his folks were dead and it’s not like he has any love for the Imperials so if he can strike a blow so much the better. And it would probably annoy the Princess that the no-good smuggler was the hero, so that would be a plus.

And then he hung around because the Rebellion has lots of things to transport, and they don’t try to backstab him and they always pay on time, because they’re so kriffing honest, though it amuses him the way they call what he does “transport” instead of “smuggling” because the oh-so-righteous Rebellion wouldn’t employ smugglers. So he started to get to know them, these Rebels, and they’re not too bad, so he started reducing his rates because he could do favours for repeat customers, right?

And then Luke wormed his way under his skin and becomes a true friend instead of a kid he was kind of fond of. The Princess hung around the two of them as well, instead of her high and mighty Rebel friends. Perhaps it’s because they don’t step on tiptoes around her ( _there goes the princess of nowhere)_ , after all, once you’ve escaped a trash compacter with someone where else is there to go?

He and the Princess prickle against each other and he doesn’t know quite what to do with that energy, but he knew he couldn’t stop. Chewbacca teases him endlessly about it and he doesn’t mind as much as he says.

One day he found Luke reading up on mourning traditions of various cultures. Han stood silent; he wasn’t sure what to say or what to do. He wasn’t very good at this sentimental stuff. “I didn’t get to bury my Aunt or Uncle,” said Luke shakily, “or Ben, obviously, but I think he’s all right. But I didn’t bury them. There wasn’t time and - and I couldn’t even tell which one was which,” he choked. Han nodded. He knew Tatooine traditions, to not bury the dead was a terrible thing and felt a little sick, what had the Storm Troopers done, that their own nephew couldn’t tell their bodies apart? Luke held up the datapad, “I thought I might find something in here. It has a lot of interesting things. I thought it might help Leia as well, what with Alderaan being … gone.”

That was the kid, always trying to help other people. Han wrapped his arm around Luke’s shoulder, “We’ll make them pay, Kid,” he said. “We’ll make the bastards pay.”

It surprised Han to realise he actually meant it.

 

…

 

So many years and so much pain later Han met another kid, a desert child, full of rough edges, but who looked at the galaxy with undisguised wonder and who took to the Millennium Falcon like she was born to it. He offered her a place on his ship, _Please,_ he thought _, don’t be another child of Fate._

She turned him down. “I have to go home,” she said. “I have to wait for my family.” He hid his disappointment badly. ( _Too soft, he was always too soft._ )

_At least it’s better than the alternative._

Fate has other ideas.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, this came about because I was rewatching ANH and came to the scene where Han offers Luke a place on the Falcon. I ended up side-eyeing it because Luke (in ANH) would make a terrible smuggler. He's a good pilot, but he's still very much the farmboy. Basically, Han was trying to save his life from what he saw as a suicide mission (and he's right, most of Luke's fellow pilots end up dead.)  
> And then he still comes back.  
> Then he does the same thing in TFA with Rey. Han is trying to adopt all the desert children who don't know how to look after themselves in the big wide galaxy. He's not the hardassed smuggler he pretends to be but a squishy soft thing.


End file.
